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The Strange Looking-Glass – An Odd Glimpse into the Future

13 June 2017 | Posted by Karthik Gopalan, Vice President, Student Affairs, Great Lakes International University

T V Mohandas Pai, the former Infosys honcho and current leader of the Manipal Group, has offered his take on the upcoming upheaval in technology hiring. According to him, since B.Tech graduates don’t have the necessary skills required to succeed at higher level tech jobs, the industry will gravitate towards taking only M.Tech holders.

The assertion is, in itself, ridiculous on some counts. It presupposes that M.Tech degrees automatically confer amazing coding abilities on students. It assumes that curricula of M.Tech programs are more amenable to industry-relevant specializations. Worst of all, it assumes that such adjustments and skill development are unviable within the framework of the B.Tech program. None of these assumptions passes the smell test, let alone any nuanced scrutiny.

For all these flaws, dismissing the statement summarily would be missing the forest for the woods. It highlights a fast-growing awareness of the inadequacy of the current system. It acknowledges that even decorated ideators are at a loss to effectively craft solutions that are in the interest of students.

To our delight, though, it validates the approach that we are taking towards curriculum design. Examine the article closely and you will find it talking about:

Aside from our additional layer of Liberal Studies, Mr. Pai could have been describing the fundamental precepts of the GLIU curriculum design. It is our stance that undergraduate study is about building the right attitudes that prepare you for global corporate success, be it as an entrepreneur or a leader in an established firm. Our disconnect with the assumptions in this article stems from our belief that every one of these skills can and must be developed at undergraduate level. Passing this on to a purportedly magical M.Tech program is intellectually lame and an abject abdication of duty.

As an institution that aims to be a fast-adapting, imaginative leader in creating the best-equipped graduates for tomorrow, we take this as a further challenge to nurture excellence at the undergraduate level. Mr. Pai, consider your gauntlet picked up.